Tennessee Code Title 8. Public Officers and Employees § 8-36-213

(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no benefit shall be paid to a member from the retirement system in excess of benefit limitations established in 26 U.S.C. § 415 and applicable federal rules and regulations.

(b) The board may establish a separate qualified excess benefit arrangement (QEBA) pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 415(m) solely for the purpose of providing eligible members with retirement system benefits that are in excess of the benefit limits established in 26 U.S.C. § 415. For purposes of this section, “eligible member” means any person included in the membership of the retirement system as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title who is entitled to receive a retirement benefit in excess of the limits imposed by 26 U.S.C. § 415.

(c) The board shall have the authority to adopt a plan document and a trust agreement as well as administer, maintain, modify, terminate or reestablish the QEBA, and may, in its discretion, delegate its authority to the state treasurer.

(d) On or after the date that the QEBA is established, the retirement system shall pay from the QEBA to each eligible member or beneficiary a supplemental retirement allowance equal to the difference between the eligible member's monthly benefit otherwise payable from the applicable retirement system prior to any reduction or limitation because of 26 U.S.C. § 415 and the actual monthly benefit payable from the retirement system as limited by 26 U.S.C. § 415. The retirement system shall compute and pay the supplemental retirement allowance in the same form, at the same time, and to the same persons as such benefits would have otherwise been paid as a monthly pension under the retirement system except for 26 U.S.C. § 415 limitations.

(e) The retirement system shall determine the amount of an eligible member's benefits that cannot be provided to the member or beneficiary because of limitations established by 26 U.S.C. § 415, and the amount of employer contributions that must be made to the QEBA as a separate fund, separate and apart from the retirement system, for each eligible member whose retirement allowance would exceed federal law limitations. The retirement system shall engage actuarial services required to make these determinations.

(f) The eligible member's employer shall pay the excess benefits for an eligible member to the separate QEBA fund when the retirement system makes the assessment that the member's retirement allowance would exceed federal law limitations established by 26 U.S.C. § 415. An employer's contribution to the QEBA shall be a separate contribution from the employer contributions made pursuant to chapter 35 of this title.

(g) Payments under a QEBA are exempt from garnishment, assignment, alienation, judgments, and other legal processes to the same extent as the retirement allowance under the retirement system.

(h) An eligible member shall not elect to defer the receipt of all or any part of the payments due under a QEBA.

(i) The board shall have the authority to promulgate rules as may be necessary to implement a QEBA plan as provided in this section.